Enicar Beginner Questions

[JPN_RACINE]

Hello there,

I purchased my very first Enicar watch, and I love it .

I really like some of the extra details, like the back of the watch, the red date wheel and the planet logo .

I have 2 questions if there are any professionals out there.

1. The watch makes a rattling sound and I think the rotor might be loose. I have a metal tool that I can open most watches with, but it doesn’t work well on the Enicar and I am scared of scratching it too much. I found out that there are these swiss rubber balls that some people use. I tried a rubber ball that I purchase in Japan (where I live), but it didn’t open. I cannot find and inexpensive rubber balls used for watch opening, only ones from China via AliExpress and I don’t know if they would do the job, and I have to wait such a long time for the shipping. Is there a special Enicar tool I need?
   
   
2. I wanted to also change the bracelet, but I cannot remove it. Is it a permanently fixed bracelet, or do I need a special tool for it? I have a regular tool to push the pins back in other watches, but it doesn’t seem to work with this one.

The watch cost me around $112.67. I'm not sure if this is a good price,if the rotor has a problem with it, it might cost me a lot to get if fixed. That being said, the watch keeps perfect time and runs so well, so I am really happy with it.

Any tips would be much appreciated .

 

[JPN_RACINE]

I'm sorry if it is not usual to ask for such advice .

As an update, I tried to prise the the part circled in green, but it has kind of damaged the strap and doesn't sit flat when put on a table for example. The watch is still find. I still wanted to keep the strap, so I will have another think about how to remove it.

I also tried a tool to remove the pin, but it doesn't seem to be like any of the other watches I have. I circled these areas in red.

 

[jbcollier]

Sorry, waiting for someone smarter than me to chime in.

You need a "spring bar removal tool". You can find them on amazon, ebay, etc. That said, scratches made by amateurs can significantly reduce a watch's value. I would take it to a watchmaker to investigate the noise and get them to remove the strap at the same time.

 

[JPN_RACINE]

Thank you very much for your advice jbcollier .

It's strange, I have a spring bar removal tool, but the bar doesn't seem to be a spring bar, and I cannot remove it like my other watches. Maybe the bar was dammaged somehow. I'll have another look at it, thank you very much.

I thought that the special tabs that I circled in red, needed to be lifted up as I've never seen this type of strap before .

I don't mind about the watch value going down as I don't wish to sell the watch or anything like that. I have asked about the prices for a watchmaker to look at it and with the price of the strap, the repair price (they need to send it somewhere and cannot do it in the store) and strap is about the same cost of the the watch .

Thank you again for your advice.

 

[JPN_RACINE]

I was able to pry this part open a little, and I could see the spring bar.

The bar is very rusty, bent and maybe broken in the middle. I think that the design of the strap causes the bar to bend over time, as the bend of the bar goes with the curvature of the watch bracelet.

I didn't want to upload any new photos as it would probably give a professional watchmaker a panic attack .

 

[JPN_RACINE]

I was able to get the strap off. You were correct that they were spring bars. They were so old that they were green and corroded. The springs disintegrated from within the broken bar.

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. The watch looks really different without the bracelet. So much better. I cannot wait to try it with some different strap.

I wonder how a professional would have done it, and if they could have somehow removed the bracelet without destroying it.

 

[Joe_A]

It may have been possible to break the bars by inserting a sturdy jeweler's screwdriver into the area you show in green. Normally, that is where you would insert a springbar tool to release the springbars.

The fact that they were oxidized green suggests that they were made of brass and therefore softer than those made of steel.